Heather Dominick: The Highly Sensitive Entrepreneur with Business Miracles

Is your business in need of a guiding hand?

Heather Dominick is the founder of A Course in Business Miracles.

A Course in Business Miracles teaches, mentors, and guides Highly Sensitive Entrepreneurs (HSE’s). These courses were made to help entrepreneurs gain business success through their three elements of success.

The unique method of using community, core practice, and consistency, is what helps these entrepreneurs become great.

This method helps HSE’s use their strengths to best help their business profit.

Learn more about how Business Miracles can improve your life by listening to this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur above and don’t forget to subscribe on  Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – Spotify –Google Play –Castbox – TuneIn – RSS.

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0:00
Welcome to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. I'm Josh Elledge, founder and CEO of UpMyInfluence.com. We turn entrepreneurs into media celebrities, grow their authority, and help them build partnerships with top influencers. We believe that every person has a unique message that can positively impact the world. stick around to the end of the show, where I'll reveal how you can be our next guest on one of the fastest growing daily inspiration podcasts on the planet in 15 to 20 minutes. Let's go on with us right now. We have Heather Dominick. And, Heather, you are the founder of a course in Business Miracles, which is on the web at Business Miracles dot com. I should also point out that you're also a podcast host and your podcast is called business miracles. So anyone who's listening to us right now you just pull up your app and you go find business miracles. And if you like what you hear about Heather well, you can hear a lot more. Thank you so much for joining us.

1:01
I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much, Josh.

1:04
So you work in your work with, of course of business miracles, you work with what you call highly sensitive entrepreneurs. And so I think probably the best place to start is go ahead and define who a highly sensitive entrepreneur is.

1:20
Right, exactly. What is that? So first of all, the term highly sensitive is not a term coined by me, but comes from Dr. Elaine Aaron, who is the founding researcher on the highly sensitive person. And starting with her research from the early 1990s. She was really able to determine that there are 20% of us who are born into the world highly sensitive. And what that means is that your nervous system is wired to take in stimulation at a much higher degree than someone who's not highly sensitive. So the where my work comes in is to support the person who is highly sensitive, who feels called to be self employed, and how to go about marketing, selling and operations in a way that really works for you and supports how your nervous system is wired rather than work against it.

2:14
So if someone is highly sensitive, like what might they feel? So they would go, oh my gosh, I'm highly sensitive.

2:24
Yes, absolutely. So there are 12, top HSE, shadows and 12 top HSE strengths that I've identified through my work. So I'll speak to just a few of those. So a top HSE shadow is absolutely overwhelmed. So if you really take a moment to consider that your nervous system takes in stimulation at a much higher degree, and it kind of makes sense that things like sights, sounds, smells, even any type of energy will really have a greater impact on you. Someone who is not highly sensitive. And so then that also in our information age includes information. And then what I'll say is one of the top HSE strengths is that we are very intuitive. So that's when your finely tuned nervous system is really working for you. So you're really able to Intuit again, using all five, six senses, to really be able to have a sense of most importantly, what another person needs. And that really comes in handy when you're a service based business owner.

3:34
Do you think that when you share that definition, pretty much everybody goes, Oh, well, that's me. I mean, I mean, everybody gets overwhelmed from overstimulation.

3:44
Right. Well, what's really interesting is that of course, there's absolutely a lot of overwhelm these days, right? Again, we're living in a very, you know, high tech, high information age. However, a person who's highly sensitive, something that is needed be slightly overwhelming to someone who is not highly sensitive, will absolutely bowl a person over who is highly sensitive. So you can think of something like even eating and allowed restaurant is really difficult for a highly sensitive and not enjoyable. Same thing for maybe, you know, somewhere where there's a lot of external stimulation like smells of country, summer, you know, fair, maybe or anything else that you can possibly think of along those lines. So it's not about yes or no, but it's about the degree upon the spectrum.

4:36
Yeah, I can see that I, you know, gosh, I have to think that it's like way more than 20% that I mean, I just, I think about it well, and it might be just more situational. I'll give you a great example. So recently, I was at the Apple Store and at Florida mall here in Orlando, and it was just, you know, it's really Interesting. I mean, it's just, it's loud. And on just on going just capponi of just like Chicha to chatter all over. And it was really interesting because I, while I was there, I was getting some stuff taken care of for my phone and my computer. And so I said, Well, let me try the new air pod pros. And so Okay, so so they bring them out, and I've got it. So I'm right here I'm holding right now. And so I pop them in. And what's interesting about these is their noise cancelling. And I have really never used noise cancelling headphones before. But it was just, it was amazing that, you know, all of a sudden, this is like all that, you know, was just all of a sudden, quiet. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, like I didn't realize, you know, kind of that little bit of anxiety that I was feeling wasn't really noticeable, but I just felt it like oh my gosh, so much commotion around me but I pop them in and Like, oh my gosh, it's like it's like my moment of Zen. And all of a sudden now, I'm just looking at all of these people just like this hundreds of people Dr. Alibaba, and they're just silence and I'm like, it was almost like I was the observer now is like watching this on a screen. And it was honestly just like that little experience right there and like that I can see a huge difference in being able to rise above, you know, these things that might overwhelm us in our daily life.

6:31
Right for sure. Well, I have a few thoughts to share about your awesome story. noise cancelling headphones are like my best friend. Wow. So I have a few different pairs for various occasions. So that's number one. Number two, although I hate to admit it, I literally almost passed out in an apple store like they had to bring me a chair and a glass of water and Three, I don't know, Josh, you might be highly. It might

7:03
be. My wife is it's funny. My, my wife is hearing impaired. So I told her I said, Man, you don't know what a gift you have. It's like when you just hear this non stop, you know, depending on where you are and said, You know, so at the Apple Store, then I had to walk through the mall and I just, I popped in and let it listen to some angsty Radiohead. You know, I was walking through the mall. And again, just silence other than like my soundtrack to this movie that I was observing. And there, you know, it was it was really, it was almost meditative. Yeah,

7:38
yeah, absolutely. Well, the other part about your story that says perhaps you might be highly sensitive, is your attention to detail, right? But not everyone is going to take that in and meaning why they might not have that kind of overstimulation experience and to not necessarily then the ability that once the noise cancelling headphones are In to really be able to observe the dropping away of the stimulation, you know, the interpretation of the experience like a movie, again, sounds kind of like a highly sensitive moment during

8:15
a good day, which is, you know, and I think in a maybe you know, someone who has those traits, we assume that everybody feels that way, but maybe they don't. I mean, I don't know. I was like, you know, and I go to, you know, we go to theme parks all the time and stuff, but like you're in it, I don't know. So one other thing I wanted to talk about, is you hear another term thrown around a bit, and I read a book on this some time ago, because I had a really great conversation with a friend about this, and that is being an empath. And so it's interesting and, and I know that that absolutely kind of runs within me, and I'll tell you, it's really interesting how it manifests is that, for example, and I'll give you a couple of examples. So when I'm having A conversation with somebody, like I really, like absorb myself into that conversation like I really, you know, just give them as as, I'm not perfect at this because there's sometimes I truly get distracted but, but I really try to be like 100% like, in the moment with them, you know, rather than, you know, thinking about what I'm going to be saying next and, and a part of that was going through improv. School was actually really good for this, about being in the moment, but I'll tell you, being naturally extroverted, I absolutely like like when I'm at like a conference or something like that. Oh, mama. I mean, I like when that I mean, when I've been doing that for a few hours. It's taxing. And I'll tell you it's really interesting. Where I especially noticed this is if I encounter people and I've actually read articles about this you encounter someone, not necessarily a difficult person, but anyone who comes across as very inauthentic. It's very painful for some reason for me, like if I can tell that, like, I'm not connecting with them, and like they're just kind of in this robot pitch mode. I'm like, like, you're not giving me the real you. And that's really frustrating for me, like, tell me what's going on, tell me what?

10:28
I'm definitely hearing, you know, highly sensitive strengths. So, another one of our HSE strengths is that we are deep listeners. So that's what I hear you describing where you really tune into a person. And also another of our HSE strengths is that we are empathic by nature. And really, the difference between a highly sensitive and an empath is just where you fall on that energetic spectrum. So highly sensitive has empathic qualities, but might not be you know, Really to the extreme end of the spectrum like an empath, who can, you know, really find it difficult to, to operate in in the world. And then also another of our HSE strengths is that we have a deep belief in justice. So that in authenticity really registers, right if you take those strengths and you think like, again, we're deep listeners, we're also deep thinkers and deep feelers to have our additional HSE strengths. And you, you know, pair that, again, with the empathic ability with deep belief and justice. And authenticity is difficult, most highly sensitive, really prefer to engage authentically, more intimately than say, you know, amongst large crowds with a lot of surface connection and service surface conversation again, and what what makes us really good at what we do as service based entrepreneurs.

11:58
So Heather, I kind of ended vision you is kind of being Dr. X at the school for the gifted, you know, who have this ability this they've become superhuman in some way, we'll just we'll say it like this. So where do you take them?

12:16
Well, for sure, most HSE they feel a call to be self employed again as a service based business owner, which really makes sense. Because again, the way that we're wired, we're so good at being healers, of being coaches and being creative entrepreneurs. And most of us have not been trained how to really utilize our nervous system, so it works for us. But instead, we've learned how to really just cope, right how to try to get by in a world that's designed for what I like to say the other 80% the non highly sensitive, so most hscs by the time they get to me, they really actually feel like they're the odd one out there. been denying their authentic self most of their life as an attempt to fit in, they don't want to seem like the the weird one who you know is really able to interpret a moment like you know your Apple store or walk through the mall that you do, or that they can really listen deeply, they can hear beyond what a person is saying. And again, learn how to squash that. So by the time hscs get to me, they're most likely facing one of the two primary coping mechanisms that I've identified. And that's either pushing or hiding. Pushing is when an HSE can really get done with another 80 percenter and the world can get done, but it usually comes at a high cost. And a hider is that they feel the call to be self employed, but they're actually really busy over protecting themselves and not actually engaging and what needs to get done to move the business forward. So that's where my work comes in, it's a retraining process to learn how to use your nervous system so that it works for you and creating business success rather than against you.

14:10
What does that look like?

14:12
So it's really an inner and outer approach. So the inner is a lot about re designing how you react to your nervous system. So that's more of a response. So a lot of the internal work that I teach is about being more proactive, rather than often again, it for an HSE, who's untrained, they're just reacting. They're reacting, all the stimulation that's coming to them. But there's certain you know, practices that you can put in place that will support you so that you can be out in the world marketing, you can be having selling conversations, and not feeling like you have to defend yourself against the world. And then the outer practices are how to go about marketing and selling in a very different way than the The other 80% so another one of our HSE strengths is that we're very spiritual by nature. So for example, the selling process that I teach is a very deep process that's really about that deep connection that you're describing earlier. And so many of you know, my members in the business miracles community described the process as a spiritual process. And the feedback that they get from their prospects that they're connecting with is the same. So those are just some examples about how to learn how to go about business differently.

15:35
So whether you've built up a very large business and you do seven figures, how did you get like how did you just kind of get your first big successes?

15:48
Well, I will honestly say my first big success was before I understood that I was highly sensitive and nearly absolutely took me out and I was absolutely it. The coping mechanism of pushing the first time that I brought my business across the million dollar mark. And it really led me to a very dark night of the soul, where I was really questioning like, I don't know, like if this is what this is about, and I'm just not sure it's for me. And through that dark night of the soul, that is when I was led to Dr. Elaine Aaron and learned that I was highly sensitive. And because I've always been a teacher, that your ideal client is a version of you. Once I understood that I was highly sensitive. I started learning that the majority of the women entrepreneurs I was serving at the time, were also highly sensitive. And that really showed me that something was very needed here, we had to go about the business differently, or we would really all end up burning out and that would be such a disservice because so many gifted women, so many gifted entrepreneurs so much to offer to the world, you know, through the business. And so then I really learned how to Go about being in business differently for myself. And so I don't really look at that first crossing of the million dollar mark as a success, I see it as more of like a catapult into now being able to be a solidly sustainable, sustainable seven figure mission in a way that really works for me and serves my highly sensitive nature. So that I go through the majority of my days very calm, very grounded, very centered, very service oriented without that typical entrepreneurial hustle, which I'm just not interested in.

17:35
What are your products and or what are your services that you offer?

17:39
Yeah, so we're a mentoring company. So we provide mentoring programs, because as I described, this really is very much an inner and an outer process. And it really requires three key elements that I've identified, which is community, core practice and consistency. And all of that absolutely requires a high level accountability and support. So our mentoring programs are everything from a six month program of two year long programs. And then the year long program of your choice really just depends on how deep you want to avail yourself in regards to that accountability and support.

18:17
So, you know, again, I do I feel like it's like, you know, if you're, you're an x men, you go to spend some time at the school for the gifted with Dr. X. Yeah, that's really wonderful. Heather, I want to thank you so much for joining us. This is really enlightening. And again, you are Heather Dominick, you're the founder and CEO of a course in Business Miracles, which is on the web at Business, Miracles dot com, and right now very easily, you can find Heather's podcast, it's just Business Miracles. You can find that everywhere that you listen to the podcast. Thanks so much, either.

18:57
Thank you, Josh. I so appreciated this conversation.

19:01
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